~ an American English teacher in Oman

three years of blogging :-)

Wednesday, March 13: Today I got a message from WordPress congratulating me on three years of blogging. I had lost track of the time I have been doing this, so it was nice to get this happy anniversary message. It’s been a grand adventure!!

Three years ago today, I was two weeks into my first year of living and working abroad in South Korea. This was my first experience EVER of living and working abroad. My friend Myrna, who arrived in Korea at the same time as I did, and who lived right across the hall from me in Daegu, told me she had just started a blog about her experience in Korea. She introduced me to her blog: MURN IN KOREA. I didn’t know anything about blogging, but after researching the blogging platforms a bit, I registered my first blog with WordPress. I wrote my first post on March 14 on catbird in korea: Idiomatic Coffee-J.

my first blog: catbird in korea

I have to say I love blogging. I never look at it as a chore or an obligation (except when I have a slow internet connection and I’m trying to upload photos! Arghh!). For me, it’s more fun than watching TV or any number of other mindless pastimes I could engage in. It has given me motivation to discover some shape and meaning to my life journey and all the lessons I’ve learned while living abroad. I hope to someday write a book (or two) about my experiences, as there is a lot I post privately that would make for VERY interesting reading.

I now have 14 blogs. Nine of them feature countries or regions where I have traveled. I also have one blog devoted to photography, whatever a moon has always meant, and another for my short stories, land of make-believe. My three most extensive blogs are this one, about my life in Oman, catbird in korea, about my year in Korea, and nomad, interrupted: catbird in america, about my life in America. When I leave Oman at the end of June, I will move to my America blog, where I imagine I will stay for a long time. That is, until I get restless again. 🙂

I have to thank all of my amazing and fascinating readers, many of whom are bloggers themselves, for all of their support and encouragement over these three years. Thank you for making this a rich and magnificent journey. I’ve loved sharing my life with all of you, and I’ve loved sharing in your lives as well.

Hi Cathy!
I have enjoyed your Oman blog and will miss it when you return to America. Although I only spent 2 weeks there last autumn, many of the places you describe are familiar to me. It has been interesting to read about what Oman is like when you actually live there because as a tourist you get a very limited view.

Whilst on holiday, we were impressed with the massive improvements, especially to the infrastructure, made since the present Sultan came to power and obviously funded by oil revenues. But it was heartening to learn that Oman does not feel the need to compete with other richer Gulf states, especially those committed to rampant capitalism. OK, this is partly pragmatic, given the quality of Omani oil is not as good as that of other Gulf states. But also Oman does seem to have a commitment to its cultural past and so as a tourist destination the contrast between modern development and the ancient way of life is striking. We found the propensity to restore ancient monuments to their exact originals somewhat strange (your photos of forts are a testament to this), but could not criticise it on the grounds of the authenticity of skills and materials used. Here we tend to leave ruins as they are.

We in the UK have recently been treated to a programme called Wild Arabia, much of which has been filmed in Oman. Again the contrast between the old and the new was striking, camel racing accompanied by state of the art 4WDs driven by the owners beings just one example.

It’s a whole different world in Arabia, but absolutely fascinating nevertheless. My next trip is to Jordan which I hope will be equally interesting.

Hi Vee, Thanks for your nice and knowledgeable message. I’m really glad that you’ve enjoyed my blog about Oman from the ex-pat point of view. Yes, it’s great that Oman doesn’t feel the need to compete with the other Gulf countries and that they’ve preserved their tradition in the midst of all this modernization. I don’t know anything about the quality of their oil (you seem to know more than I do about this), but I do know they have dwindling resources. That’s why the Sultan has placed so much emphasis on education.

Yes, it is kind of strange that Oman restores all the forts to their exact originals. All the forts look like they’re brand new! At least, like you say, they use authentic materials. Actually, since you’ve been reading my blog, I’m sure you’ve seen all the ruins that have been left as they are, which I actually prefer. I hope they don’t get it in their heads to restore them all. I love these original ruins because they are not on the “tourist route” and so are not crowded or overpriced. Although, even Oman’s forts have quite a low admission price.

I love the ruins in Britain just as they are!! I hope no one ever restores them. I guess there is some restoration that must be done just so buildings don’t collapse on top of tourists!! I went to Britain in 1999, but sadly I don’t have any digital photos and so have never posted anything about that trip.

Yes, the camel racing is really interesting, modernized as it is. I sadly haven’t seen any camel races and now I understand the season is over. So I won’t get to see them before I leave. I found it so strange that no one rides the camels but they control them by remote control. That Wild Arabia show sounds interesting. 🙂

Well, Vee, you just informed me about a place I haven’t seen in Oman, Samhuram!! I’ve been to Salalah only once, and I didn’t see those ruins. Sadly I won’t have time to return there before I leave. Oh well, I saw a video online of it. They look somewhat similar to many ruins throughout Oman, especially the ruins of Munisefeh in Ibri, which was a big commercial center on the trade route back in the day. 🙂

Thanks so much Elaine. Well, since I can only be in one place at a time, since my blogs are mostly focused on a place, it’s not as hard as you think! I think it’s fun to use different themes and create different moods for each blog. I don’t think I’m the only one out there with so many. 🙂

Thank you so much Jose!! You are too kind. I hope to take many more pictures, but as it’s getting hotter by the day and I leave in 3 months, not sure how many opportunities I’ll have. But I’ll try!! Thanks again for your kind compliment. 🙂

That’s a lot of commitment, words and images for three years! I suppose a blog can become like a visual diary or journal and a great place to process all the experiences we are having. I am definitely enjoying my own blogging journey that I just began 10 weeks ago!

Thanks so much, Beauty. I like using mine as travel journals for my travels, or a record of what it’s like living and working abroad, which is so different from life at home. So, you are really new to the blogging world. Welcome! I hope you enjoy your own personal journey. 🙂

Congratulations! I’m glad for my sake that you’re doing this, because I feel like I’ve made a friend who’s doing something very interesting; I’ve loved reading your stories and thoughts, and seeing your photos. I’m glad for your sake because it’s given you a creative outlet, and probably has broadened your world even more that you already enlarged it by taking this working overseas journey. Thank you!

Thank you so much, again, Lynn, for your kind words. I’m glad you enjoy my journey. I feel like I’ve made a friend in you too. 🙂 Blogging has definitely given me a creative outlet that fits my personality to a tee! I’ve tried jewelry-making, creative writing, quilting, and interior design, but all of those pursuits cost a lot of money! (except creative writing of course). Blogging is perfect for me in so many ways, and I truly enjoy it. It has broadened my world and my experience by forcing me to notice, to keep my eyes wide open. It has also encouraged me to improve in photography, even though I still have a long way to go. You should see how bad my photos were before I started blogging. 🙂

Heartiest congratulations for three years of the blog! In fact, before coming to Nizwa, I had also started to read your blogs and registered on wordpress to get updates :).
I had mistakenly asked a lady in UoN, are you the one who writes blogs with an ID of catbird Lolz, it was embarrassing too also :))
Fourteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen! OMG, quite impressive, I can’t keep an eye on Two 🙂

Thank you so much, Syed, for your kind words! Where did you come from before coming to Nizwa? What do you do here? Are you working at the University? I wonder who it was you asked?? LOL.

Yes, I have 14 blogs, but most of them are simply like travel journals and are based on certain countries or regions where I have traveled. There’s no need to try to keep up with them, as once i finish posting about a trip, then that’s the end of it! 🙂

Thank you so much for your reply, I hope you would have enjoyed my funny situation :). I was in New Zealand before coming to Oman and I had requested you on youtube probably to help me in providing details of parks and some other matters (now I can imagine what kinds of parks are here for the kids 🙂 :D), I joined Deptt Biol. Science and Chemistry, University of Nizwa few months ago.

Well, I hope you at least found some useful information on my blog. I hope you’re enjoying life in Nizwa and at the university. Feel free to stop by my office on the 2nd floor of building 2 sometimes. I’m in 2C-5C (I think that’s it!)

Many thanks for your kind invitation, I would love to visit you this week sometime, if I found the correct location, Building 2 (Registration & Record) near the library but not the 2A(?) near the printing press.

It’s the one by the printing press/copy center, on the 2nd floor. I’ll be invigilating and marking midterms over the next two days, so I won’t be much in my office. You can always try me on Wednesday. 🙂

Thanks, Robin. But you know it isn’t really as hard as it seems because I can only be in one place at one time. Since my blogs revolve around travel, I post in the blog where I am at the time (or sometimes in retrospect). The only ones that I post simultaneously on are the photography and fiction ones and the one wherever I am.